Selling your home is one of the most important steps in your life. Here are 29 essential tips you must know…

For most people, selling their home means cashing in their biggest asset. In other words, it must be handled with great care if you hope to protect—and capitalize on—your investment. This guide was written with one goal in mind: to give you the tools you need to maximize your profits, maintain control, and reduce the stress that comes with the home-selling process.

Tip No. 1 Know why you're selling.

The reason you look closely at why you want to sell is that your motivations play an important role in the process. They affect everything from setting a price, to deciding how much time and

Rebuilding Our Communities (ROC) was launched by DSHA in November 2011. The program, funded through an award of Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds from HUD, was designed to be used in targeted areas to help stabilize communities that were hard hit by the downturn in the economy. DSHA is pleased to announce that 100% of funds allocated to DSHA for ROC have been exhausted. Any current reservations will be honored, and should be delivered, per program guidelines.

What is the true benefit of having your home listed with professional-quality photo … Is it truly worth the money invested in paying for a professional photographer?

YES!

As the graphic above shows, there can be a significant return on your investment in using DSLR photography. However, as most DSLR cameras are generally out of the price range of the average leisure photography (ranging from $500 to over $1,000), it makes sense to assume that most DSLR photography for home listings will be done by professionals. A professional photographer will usually cost $100 -- $500, so it stands to reason that because using professional photography could net you thousands of dollars more on your home sale, it is a worthwhile investment to use your marketing

Mortgage rates stayed near all-time lows this week, as the housing market showed signs of life and sent potential home buyers a message: If you want to buy low, it doesn't get any better than this.

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.97 percent, unchanged from last week, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.19 percent from the previous week, and the benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 3.02 percent from 3 percent.

NAR's composite quarterly Housing Affordability Index* rose to a record high of 205.9 in first quarter. The higher the index, the greater the household purchasing power. This is the